Ernst & Young LLP named in the Top 10 for NAFE’s 2014 Top Companies for Executive Women list

New York, 4 February 2014

Newsroom

Ernst & Young LLP has been named one of the 2014 “NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women” by the National Association for Female Executives, which honors American corporations that identify and promote successful women. The NAFE Top Companies survey evaluates companies on every aspect of women’s advancement, including succession planning, profit-and-loss roles, gender pay parity, support programs, work life balance programs and much more.

“Since we focused more efforts on gender equity, our retention of women has risen, the number of executive women has more than doubled and flexibility solutions are embedded throughout our offices,” says Karyn Twaronite, EY Americas Inclusiveness Officer and Partner at Ernst & Young LLP. “Over the years, we’ve developed many initiatives within EY to advance women and develop inclusive leaders. We’re focused on creating an environment where all people, women and men, feel empowered to showcase their differences to be successful.”

Ernst & Young LLP received this honor for its many progressive programs that support the success of women throughout their careers at the firm:

Professional Women’s Network (PWN), an action-oriented group that fosters the exchange of knowledge and experiences through learning, internal and market-facing networking events. PWNs provide significant exposure and leadership opportunities to women at all levels and enhance client service by enabling women to build strong relationships across our service lines and with our clients. Currently, there are approximately 50 PWNs involving professionals from both the US and Canadian firms, in more than 90 cities.

Career and family transitions coaching program, a program piloted in December 2012 that supports women and men welcoming a new baby through birth or adoption. Due to its success, the pilot is now expanding into a long-term program expected to reach about 375 moms and dads by December 2014. EY business unit leaders nominate mid-level professionals to participate, with a 100% acceptance rate to date, including dads. The program is unique in that EY’s internal Executive Coaching team has dedicated several executive coaches to help these working parents through individual and group sessions held before and after the birth or adoption of their child. Additionally, training is offered for the EY professionals who serve as participants’ counselors both prior to their leave and focused on their return to work, which is expected to reach about 250-300 counselors by December 2014.

Inclusiveness Leadership Program, a three-year development program that targets high-potential women partners/principals focused on that next level of leadership. Through it, participants engage in formal mentoring relationships with firm leaders and an external coach. Participants also receive a customized development plan and work with their mentors and coaches on execution.

Leadership Matters, a program that develops transformational leadership capabilities in our leadership ranks in support of our inclusiveness and performance imperatives. The program explores the impact of unintended associations; develops mindsets and habits for leading inclusively; builds skills and practices to optimize and transform our culture; and inspires commitment to practice visible inclusive leadership at the personal, team and organizational levels.

Career Mentors and Sponsors Program (formerly Career Watch), a newly designed program aimed to position high-performing women to earn promotions to the next level, and ultimately to Executive Director or Partner/Principal, through equitable access to mentoring, sponsorship and game-changing career assignments and experiences. Tools are made available for the sponsor/mentor to ensure they can take specific actions in the participants’ career development and leadership experiences. Additionally, the Career Mentor program, which focuses on our people at the manager level, will equip individuals to be the best protégés and position them for sponsorship.The Career Sponsor programcreated for our people at the senior manager level will focus on promoting protégés to Executive Director or Partner/Principal.

Today’s Families, a professional network that helps support our women in achieving their full potential. Benefits of this network include leave related to childbirth or adoption, mentoring, webcasts, a lactation program, technology connectivity during leaves, a flexible working environment and backup-care programs to make sure all of our working mothers to reach their personal and professional goals.

Sponsorship, involves leaders committing to advocating and creating advancement opportunities for high-potential individuals. EY educates its people on the importance of sponsorship — to help women recognize their value and ways to obtain it, and to encourage senior leaders to become sponsors. EY also hosts all-hands sponsorship webcasts and produced, the corporate sponsor as hero, a thought leadership publication that outlines the must-have traits of effective sponsors. The new Advisory Women’s Leadership program seeks to grow representation of women in senior ranks through sponsorship, quarterly account “health checks” and women’s leadership discussions. The account checks proactively monitor female senior managers in their career development and provide support to keep them on track to becoming a partner/principal. Additionally, the Financial Services Office of Ernst & Young LLP has developed an Advancing Women Executives program aimed at providing effective sponsorship for women in the leadership pipeline and building a sponsorship culture.

EYU, a comprehensive, global career development framework that delivers learning, experiences and coaching so that all of our people can be successful. EYU includes modules that build high-functioning and diverse teams and give our people the tools to drive their own career growth.

Carol Evans, CEO of NAFE and president of Working Mother Media, says, “The NAFE Top Companies offer environments where women have significant clout and make the decisions that affect their company’s future and its bottom line. Their female top executives lead businesses, set policy and have profit-and-loss responsibility.” The full list of this year’s winners is posted on workingmother.com and nafe.com.

The NAFE Top Companies will be celebrated at NAFE’s annual gala awards luncheon at Cipriani, in New York, on April 3, 2014. There will also be an Executive Women Roundtable prior to the luncheon. Additionally, the names of all the NAFE Top Companies will be released in the February/March 2014 issue of Working Mother.

Methodology

The 2014 NAFE Top Companies application includes more than 200 questions on female representation at all levels, especially the corporate officer and profit-and-loss ranks. The vetting process includes tracking access and usage of programs and policies that promote the advancement of women as well as the training and accountability of managers in relation to the number of women who advance. In order to be eligible for the NAFE Top Companies survey, entrants must have a minimum of 1,000 employees, two women on the Board of Directors and be a public or private company. NAFE also separately names the Top 10 companies in the non-profit sector.

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, a member of the global EY organization that provides services to clients in the US.

ABOUT NAFE

The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), founded in 1972, serves 20,000 members nationwide with networking, tools and solutions to strengthen and grow their careers and businesses. Working Mother magazine publishes the annual NAFE Top Companies list. NAFE.com provides up-to-date information, community for women in business and access to member benefits. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media, owned by the Bonnier Corporation.

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EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.